Rock, Metal and Alternative

Best Rock Performance

This year’s nominees consist almost entirely of female or female fronted acts, with longtime stalwarts Foo Fighters being the only exception. I don’t think the Foos fill take this one, though, and instead will likely be picked up by Alabama Shakes’ scorching soulful blues rocker “Don’t Wanna Fight”

Best Rock Song

Another songwriting award, and here’s where I think Florence + The Machine will triumph. Florence Welch and her band have always been a lyrical powerhouse, and out of their several awards for their latest album, rock songwriting is where they should triumph.

PREDICTION: Florence + The Machine, “What Kind of Man”

Best Rock Album

James Bay, Chaos and the Calm
Death Cab for Cutie, KintsugiHighly Suspect, Mister Asylum
Muse, DronesSlipknot, .5: The Grey Chapter

This is a varied selection, covering a wide swath of guitar genres, which is good to see. However, if Death Cab had been nominated in the Best Alternative Album category, they would have probably won that one. Here in Rock Album though, it’s a little less clear. Bombastic arena rockers Muse won this award once with The Resistance but the career lowpoint Drones probably isn’t strong (or obvious Grammy bait) enough to win here. Neither is Slipknot’s solid The Grey Chapter and I have no idea who the hell Highly Suspect are and how they got here instead of Imagine Dragons (who are terrible, but I’d expect them) or Foo Fighters (because this is their wheelhouse) or Brit math rockers Foals (who would have been an interesting surprise). Instead I’m guessing everydude blues rocker James Bay will get the win here over Death Cab, but I’d be very pleased if they took this.

PREDICTION: James Bay, Chaos and the Calm

Best Alternative Album

This award has always been a bit of a mess, as has the tag “alternative” in general. There’s a lot of surprise snubs in here: A nomination for Courtney Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit would have complemented her Best New Artist nod, and she would have likely taken the category if she’d been nominated. I don’t get the hype behind Twenty One Pilots’ cult hit Blurryface, but it definitely had a deserved chance here, as did CHVRCHES’ remarkable Every Open Eye or Blur’s reunion album The Magic Whip . Instead, we’re left with the high probability of an overrated Tame Impala record winning this award. Bjork always gets nominated but never wins, and Wilco’s quite solid Star Wars is probably the closest serious competitor. I’m not sure if Alabama Shakes will take this, though, but Tame Impala seems like the pick that the Grammys will obviously take, and that’s usually what wins.

PREDICTION: Tame Impala, Currents

Up next: Check out our thoughts on how well Kendrick Lamar and D’Angelo will do in the hip hop and R&B categories